Alexis Lawrence, Guardian and Next Friend on Behalf of Kemmerlyn D. Lawrence, a Minor v. Shirley S. Chater, Commissioner of Social Security

Decided January 8, 1996. The Court ruled per curiam — an unsigned opinion of the Court.

Docket 94-9323 · 516 U.S. 163 (1996) · Cited 158 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. · 467 U.S. 837 (1984)
• Teague v. Lane · 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
• Huddleston v. Dwyer · 322 U.S. 232 (1944)
• HECKLER, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES v. LOPEZ Et Al. · 463 U.S. 1328 (1983)
• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Duel · 324 U.S. 154 (1945)
• Pioneer Investment Services Co. v. Brunswick Associates Ltd. Partnership · 507 U.S. 380 (1993)
• Griffith v. Kentucky · 479 U.S. 314 (1987)
• Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton · 515 U.S. 646 (1995)
• U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mall Partnership · 513 U.S. 18 (1994)
• United States v. Johnson · 457 U.S. 537 (1982)
• Arizona v. Evans · 514 U.S. 1 (1995)
• Board of Trustees of Keene State College v. Sweeney · 439 U.S. 24 (1978)
• Young v. United States · 315 U.S. 257 (1942)
• Minnesota v. National Tea Co. · 309 U.S. 551 (1940)
• Moore v. United States · 429 U.S. 20 (1976)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Youngblood v. West Virginia · 547 U.S. 867 (2006)
• Andrus v. Texas · 590 U.S. 806 (2020)
• Strickler v. Greene · 527 U.S. 263 (1999)
• Tyler v. Cain · 533 U.S. 656 (2001)
• Greene v. Fisher · 565 U.S. 34 (2011)
• Sprint/United Management Co. v. Mendelsohn · 552 U.S. 379 (2008)
• Diamond Alternative Energy, LLC v. EPA · 606 U.S. 100 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).